Sacrament [from Latin sacrare to make sacred] Consecration, an oath, pledge; later a sacred rite. The Roman Catholic Church recognizes seven sacraments, and the Protestant churches in general but two, the eurcharist and baptism. The Latin root sacr- (sacred, consecrated) is connected with the Hebrew zachar (male principle, often degraded into a purely phallic significance). Religious views as to the value of sacraments vary between those which regard them as channels by which actual grace is bestowed and those which regard them as merely symbolic and commemorative.

Noun1. a formal religious act conferring a specific grace on those who receive it; the Protestant sacraments are baptism and the Lord's Supper; in the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church there are seven traditional rites accepted as instituted by Jesus: baptism and confirmation and Holy Eucharist and penance and holy orders and matrimony and extreme unction (hypernym) religious ceremony, religious ritual (hyponym) Holy Eucharist, Eucharist, sacrament of the Eucharist, Holy Sacrament, Liturgy, Eucharistic liturgy, Lord's Supper

A solemn religious ceremony to which several degrees of authority and significance are attached. Rome has seven sacraments, but the Protestant churches, being less prosperous, feel that they can afford only two, and these of inferior sanctity. Some of the smaller sects have no sacraments at all -- for which mean economy they will indubitable be damned.

The notion of sacrament is particularly important to the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church , the latter which sees itself as a &quotsacramental agent.&quot This means that sacraments are administered under its authority and care. Sacraments often mirror important life passages and should be seen as the spiritual and sacred reflection of their social/human counterparts. The Catholic and Orthodox Churches fix the number of sacraments at seven: Baptism , the rite of conversion into the church, sometimes in infancy; Confirmation, the renewal of one's belief as an adult along with the reaffirmation of a person's membership in the church; marriage or Holy Matrimony; Holy Orders or Ordination, when someone enters a permanent office of the church (e.g., as a deacon, priest, or bishop); the Sacrament of the Sick, or extreme unction, when one nears the end of life; Confession, or Reconciliation, where a person confesses their sins; and Mass--also known as Holy Communion , Holy Eucharist or the Lord's Supper--which symbolizes the formal forgiveness of confessed sins. Protestant Churches have different positions on the sacraments, from adoption of all or some of them to the denial of the idea of sacrament altogether (even when they practice some of the rites themselves).

(v. t.)
To bind by an oath. (n.)
The pledge or token of an oath or solemn covenant; a sacred thing; a mystery. (n.)
The oath of allegiance taken by Roman soldiers; hence, a sacred ceremony used to impress an obligation; a solemn oath-taking; an oath. (n.)
One of the solemn religious ordinances enjoined by Christ, the head of the Christian church, to be observed by his followers; hence, specifically, the eucharist; the Lord's Supper.